Business & Personal Finance

Recently I helped a client who had come to our desk looking for print periodicals covering specific industries in Canada.  I was happy to be able to report to him that for most of the industries he was interested in, either North York Central or Toronto Reference Library, had print subscriptions.  These two locations have the largest and longest runs of industry periodicals in the system.

Now why would you want to look at a magazine in print, when so many are available in either databases or have websites with current content?  Here are 5 reasons (in no particular order)

• Advertisements – many publications have business to business opportunities or job ads that you will not see in other sources.
• Directory issues – most of these magazines offer an annual directory that lists company specialties and contact information.  Many times the company breakdowns are more specific than in more traditional directories such as Scotts or Canadian Trade Index.  Expensive to purchase separately, they are usually included in a print subscription.
• Forecasts – want to be ahead of the game? The first or last issue of the year many times has predictions of where the industry will be going in the coming year. 
• Trends – want to track a particular wave of interest in a certain product or see what the next big thing might be?  Or what was popular 5 years ago?  Leaf through an issue.
• Charts and illustrations – unless the article appears as a PDF in a database or online on the website, you will miss out on what are vital pieces of information complementing an article. 

For the electronically minded, the i-Pad is revitalizing the magazine industry, but at what cost to the bottom line for the industry?  Check out this article entitled "The battle for the digital newstand- Tablets offer newspapers and magazines a lifeline. But publishers and tech giants are wrestling over who gets the money" by Susan Krashinsky and Simon Houpt, Globe and Mail, February 26, 2011, page B6.  For interesting blog reading related to this issue, check out the INMA (International Newsmedia Marketing Association) website.